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Dustfinger
Dustfinger (German: Staubfinger) is a character in Cornelia Funke's Inkworld trilogy. Dustfinger is a fire-eater who was plucked from a different world along with Capricorn and Basta from a fantasy novel read aloud by Mo. In his native world, Dustfinger has the rare ability to control fire by speaking to it, and when he finds himself thrust into Mo's universe, he continues to make his living by busking on the streets of Italy. Dustfinger was born in the principality of Argenta, where he grew up as an orphan along with The Black Prince, with whom he apparently got into great mischief from the fact that the two grew up together. Dustfinger has ginger hair, and three mostly healed scars on his face, given to him by Basta, who desired Roxanne. She rejected him, and when Basta found out who the man was that she chose over him, he and two other men ambushed Dustfinger. His scars are very faint as a result of fairy magic. Dustfinger is never seen without his pet horned marten, Gwin, and his apprentice, Farid, who was also read out of his world in Tales of the Arabian Nights by Mo, but is pleased to be freed from constant work and frequent beatings by the thieves he worked for. Dustfinger, on the other hand, longs to return to the world he had known, and seeks out a person with the same gift as Mo to read him back - a Silvertongue. It is later revealed that what Dustfinger yearns to return to is the family he has left behind in his own world. Dustfinger had a wife, a minstrel named Roxane, and two daughters with her: Brianna, who works as a servant to Violante at The Laughing Prince's castle, and Rosanna, who died of sickness in the winter during the ten years that Dustfinger was away. Roxane, assuming that Dustfinger was dead, remarried a poor farmer and had a son, Jehan, by him. The boy's father later died, leaving Roxane to raise her eight year old son alone. When Dustfinger returns to his former home he finds that presuming he was dead, Roxane remarried. She suspects he cheated on her, therefore presuming that Farid is Dustfinger's son with another woman. Dustfinger learns that a death from one of Capricorn's men awaits him at the end of the novel out of which he was read from none other than that book's author, Fenoglio, who states that he killed Dustfinger off because he wanted to "make the story more exciting". Although he has a tendency to hide his emotions — a trait for which Farid admires him — Dustfinger's greatest fear is that the fate that was written for him will prove true. Inkspell In Inkspell, following an old tale of a fire-eater who lost his son, Dustfinger gives his own life to the White Women — spirits who come to gather the souls of the dead — in exchange for that of Farid, whom he considers the son he never had. Dustfinger returns in Inkdeath, when Mo, also known as the Bluejay throughout the book, is taken by the white women to take Dustfinger back on the condition that Mo destroy the Adderhead's book of immortality. His appearance changes slightly in the form of his scars disappear when he comes back. In addition, his usual attitude towards Mo changes: Dustfinger used to hate Mo for ripping him from his story, but after coming back from the dead, he has warmer feelings towards Mo. He becomes the Bluejay's "shadow," continually looking out for and protecting Mo. He is braver and less fearful than in the time before his death. His powers with the fire also increase Relationships Mortimer Folchart Mo is the one who read Dustfinger out of Inkheart. Dustfinger betrayed Silvertongue by leading him to Capricorn without Silvertongue's knowledge, because Dustfinger thought that Capricorn would let Mo read him back again inside the book, but Capricorn betrayed him. At first Dustfinger had an antagonistic view of Mo, due to Mo being unable to read him back into Inkheart. He disliked him so greatly that despite knowing that Mo's wife, Resa, was Capricorn's captive maid Dustfinger did not seek to reunite the two as revenge on Mo. However, after the two shared an experience with Death they seem to have become friendly towards one another. Resa Folchart Dustfinger met Resa while she worked as a maid in Capricorn's house. The two were very friendly towards each other and Resa taught him how to read. When Dustfinger was escaping from Capricorn's village's crypt, he asked Resa to come with him. In addition, when Dustfinger died Resa cried almost as much as Roxanne, Dustfinger's wife. Meggie Folchart When Meggie first saw Dustfinger, she didn't trust him and wanted him to go away because of his name, appearance, and his pet, and when he betrayed her father she was furious. Dustfinger often speaks to her sarcastically, calling her "princess" rather than by name. Despite this he cares for her more than he would like to admit, and she is one of few people from the real world that he trusts. Gwin Gwin is a tame marten that was Dustfinger's pet in and was accidentally read into the real world along with his master. He was Dustfinger's only companion for nearly ten years after Dustfinger was plucked from his story. Dustfinger taught tricks to Gwin to help him earn money for his performances. Dustfinger can also talk to him and summon, or whatever Dustfinger wanted Gwin to do, but the marten was often disobedient and bit him. He cares for the marten a lot, and in his original story he died while protecting him. Farid After Mo reads Farid out of The One Thousand and One Nights, Farid is impressed by Dustfinger's fiery abilities, and attaches himself to Dustfinger, eager to learn all his tricks. At first, Dustfinger doesn't very much like having Farid follow him around and refuse to leave him, but he grows to like and eventually love Farid as a son, taking him on as an apprentice at his insistence. The two care about each other very much, to the point where Dustfinger traded his life to the White Women to save Farid's when Farid was killed by Basta. And after Farid was revived he worked desperately for months trying to bring Dustfinger back to life. Trivia In the 2008 movie Inkheart, Dustfinger is read back into the book by Mo (Silvertongue) at the end of the movie. In the original book series, Mo refuses to read Dustfinger back in because he doesn't want to lose someone and doesn't want anyone to come out of the book either. Dustfinger then takes Mo's copy of Inkheart and sets out with Farid. In Inkspell, Dustfinger is read back into the Inkworld by a man named Orpheus, setting the story for Inkspell. Therefore, Orpheus won't arrive at the start of Inkspell movie that is coming out but will arrive in the scene where the villans visit Elinor's house. Appearances #''Inkheart (first appearance)'' #''Inkheart (film)'' #''Inkspell'' #''Inkdeath'' Behind the scenes Dustfinger was played by Paul Bettany in the film adaption of the first novel, Inkheart. Category:Characters Category:Male Category:Strolling Players Category:Fire-Eaters